Flexible shaft or chain.



0. OHLSON.

FLEXIBLE SHAFT 0R CHAIN.

APPLICATION FILED mm, 1915.

1, 1 46,01 5 Patented July 13, 1915.

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To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OLor certain new and usefullmprovements in Flexible Shaftsor Chains, of which the folof a chain in transmitting power by a longi-l,

tudinal pull.

The objects of the inventionthavebeen to produce a simple and inexpensive form of h flexible shaft or chain which is susceptible of being curved or bent out of a straight line to at least' as great-an extent as the commonly used flexible shafts may be bent, and

which when so; bent is adapted to transmit force rotatably positively and without ap- 'preciableinternal friction; also to produce a contrivance in the nature of. a chain capable ofbeing made in any length and the links or, elements of which can be quickly assembled:

' and; securely connected together, without riveting or welding.

As the contrivance in which the invention isembodied is adapted to serve the various purposes of .both a flexible shaft and a chain,

- it may be properly designated eitheras a chain or as a flexible shaft, or by both names, but forthe purposes of. the present descrip tion, it will be called in the following description by the-term cha1n only, it? being understoodthaJt-this term is used simply for the convenience (of description ':and without limiting significance.

with my invention, and being shown partly in'elevation' and partly in longitudinalsection. Fig. 2 is a perspective view .of two.

of the links'of which the chainis composed,

oneof the. links beingcomplete and the other being without its binding member. Fig. 3

is a perspective s view of one of the bars which forms a component of the links. Fig, 4 is a cross section on line of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of link element. Fig. 6 is a sectional no'rmal assembled. relation, and also by FLEXIBLE SHAFT on 01mm.

OHLSON, a citi zen of the United States, and resident of WVest Newton, in the county of ,.Middlesex and State, of Massachusetts,havefinvented 1 to "a novel In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a fragment of a chain made 1n accordance.

Specification of Letters IPatent. Patented July 13, 1915,, Application filed January 9,1915. Serialll'o. 1,429. r i I dotted lines,in the'position assumed for assembling with the binder.

The same reference characters indicatethe same parts in all the figures.

Each 1 nk of the chain in which my invention is embodied is composed of. two elements a, which for the purposes of the present description Imay call bars, and a sleeve or hollow cylinder 6, which for the same purposes may be called a binder. Each bar a has, two recesses a in each of'its opposite sides, said'recesses being near the theform of barshown in Figs. 1, 2, and-3 the recesses a have the form of notches open at the edges of the bar, while in the form shown in Fig; 5 thetwo'recesses a at one 1 1 end are entirely inclosed by the material of the bar while the two recesses a at the 0p-' posite end are open, as above described.

opposite ends respectively, of the bar. In

entlyfto' bedesciribed, 'and'in width, that is' in the dimension. longitudinally of the-bar,- are somewhat less thanthe width, or 'dinien-y sion injthe same direction, of the notches. The depth of the notches-is substantially equal to the thickness'jof the stock from '90 Lployed in m'aki'ng the bars is necessarilywhichthe baris made. The materialemsuch as will give the required strength combine strength and wearing qualities and and compactness, and ordinarily metal is? essential. The particular metal is chosen with regard tothe "size and strength required for the chain.v "Preferablyfor chains used as flexibleshafting,I would make the bars out of softsteel and ,case-hardemto' The bars are assembled to form links and ner shown in Fig. 2. Two of the bars are held parallelzto oneanother at a distance a are connected with other links in the'man 1 v apart approximately equal to the'width of the neck a between theflnotches at the I end l i of the bar.

receive oneofthe-interlocking projections a v Then two other bars are inter-" locked with the fiISt';tWO b3.I S by placing" .them so that the notches at one end of each I one of thelateral ,proiectionsa of another bar in each one of its recesses, and each looking PIOJBCtIOIl a of each bar 1s also conta'in'ed ina recess-of oneof the other bars.

Then the retaining sleeve .or binder is slippedoverthe endsof the bars last assembled, a thirdpairof bars is assembled as above described with the link just comthe construction is'carried on in this manner- .The-endmost link or-pair of bars is permapleted,.the. binder sleeve" is slipped over these bars to complete the third link and until a chain of the desired length is formed.

nently secured in an end binder or coupling 1*, which. may be a shaft section,'or a bar of any description, and-which-has an opening d formed at one end. The'opening or'recess 0? is enlarged, at-itsinner end to form a chamber 0 such enlargement or chamber being bounded by ashoulder '0 which has a function in securing the link in the binder.

. A pin 0 is driven through the binder c between the bars cf'theendmost' link and spreads the inner ends of such bars apart,

so that the ends of their lateral projections a areinterloc'ked with the shoulder 0 The bOIemOf each i'binder sleeve, atleast at the ends of such sleeve, is of such' a diameter that the lateral: projections a of two bars may be passed'through it when the ends of the .barsare brought into contact with one another. In other words, assuming that the ends of two'link bars are laid together'as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 7, then the diameter of .such bore must be enough larger than the diagonal 12 to enable the link top be slipped .through the binder.

diameter. is less than the diagonal 34 between the outer. corners of the relatively opposite lateral projections of the two bars when the bars are separated in their normal position. The central parts of the bars are enough narrower than the ends to permit the bars to be separated the required dis tance to be interlocked with the bars of the adjacent links, as'is shown by the sectional,

\ iewFig. 4. .Thus after a binder sleeve has been slipped over a link, and the bars of the link have been spread apart far enoughto interlock with the adjacent links, the

. jacent links, the outer. corners of which extend across theinner .edge of the sleeve end.

The end opening in the shaftor coupling 6 shoulders a at such ends overlap the shoulder a -withinlthe coupling when the bars But this side-in parallel planes and are spread apart. Thus the introduction of the pin a which spreads these bars apart causes them to be securely interlocked with the shoulder c of the coupling member. There is enough play or lost motion between the boundaries .of the slots in the bars and the lateral projections which lie in these bars to permit of the links being inclined to one another, whereby the assembled chain or shaft may be curved or bent out of a straight line.

When the chain is used as a shaft to transmit rotationand is bent thus out of a straight line, the locking projections play back and forth in therecesses wherein they are contained. I have found that even when power is transmitted against great resistance there is practically no binding between the locking shoulders and sides of the link bars, and the frictional resistance to the play above 'negligible.

referred to' is so slight as to be The binder sleeves perform the double function of holding the bars of each link together and of providing a smooth bearing surface when'the device is used as a shaft,

within a housing or casing. These sleeves may be casehardened and polished, whereby their outer surfaces are made strongly wearresls ting and produce very little fribtion.

F 1g. 6 shows'a construction of the binding sleeve wherein the sleeve is made of two parts I) and b pressed or spurr from annular disks of sheet metal. The sleeves d shown'in the other figures may be made in anyway desired, as by boring out and cutting ofi' sections of metal rods, or by cutting ofi sections of tubing,,or otherwise.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

-1. A chain for flexible shafts composed of interen-gaged links, each link comprising flatbars having notches in opposite sides neareach end, and being arran ed side by interlocked with bars similarly formed and arranged except that they are located in'planes at right angles'to those'of the first named bars, and means for retaining said bars in interlocked relation;

notches in its'op'posite sides near the oppo- {site ends thereof, and being'arranged beside sleeve is held in place by the ends of'the adone another in parallel planes, each pair of theend portions of one of two other and similarly constrncted link bars. member cis of approximately the same; diameter, whereby a: .link may be inserted therein when the ends'of the bars forming such link are brought together, and the 3. A chltin'comprising a'series of interlocked link bars, each bar havin a recess at each side near each end thereo and said bars being interlocked with one another by engagement of the lateralprojections between each notch and the end of each bar maaoia with the notches of adjacent bars, and means for holding said bars in such interlocked engagement.

In a chain, a link comprising two similar bars having notches in their opposite sides near their ends, and a sleeve substantially equal in length to the distance between the innermost edges of such notches and having an internal diameter large enough to receive two of said bars in parallel separated by an intermediate space.

5. A link element for a chain comprising a bar having recesses in opposite sides adjacent to each of its ends.

6. A link element for a chain comprising a bar having recesses in opposite sides adjacent to each of its ends, the width of the bar between the notches being less than its Width at the ends.

7 A link element for a chain of the character described comprising a bar having two recesses in each of its sides near its ends, said recesses being greater in their dimensions longitudinally of the bar than the width of the material between the notches and the extreme ends of the bar.

8. A link element for a chain of the sort described comprising a bar having greater width than thickness, said bar having notches exactly opposite to each other in its opposite edges and near its ends, said notches being Wider (in the longitudinal direction of the bar) than the width of the material lying between the end of the bar and the adjacent notches, and extending inwardly from the edges of the material between the notches a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the bar. r

9. A chain comprising notched bars interlocked in pairs, each bar having lateral projections on each side of each end and recesses on each side beside said projections, the lateral projections on the one end of each bar being contained in the notches in the corresponding sides at the adjacent ends of the adjacent bars, and the bars of each pair being separated by the width of the stock between the notches at the opposite sides of the interposed bar, and binding means surrounding each pair of bars and limiting the separation of the members of such pair.

10. A chain comprising notched bars interlocked in pairs, each bar having lateral projections on each side of each end and recesses on eachside beside said projections,

the lateral projections on the one end of each bar being contained in the notches in the corresponding sides at the adjacent ends of the adjacent bars, and the bars of each pair being, separated by the width of the stock between the notches at the opposite sides of the interposed bar, and binding means surrounding each pair of bars and limiting the separation of the members of such pair, said binding means being contained between, and of less lateral extent than, the ends of the bars which are interlocked with the bars surrounded by said means. i

11. A flexible shaft or chain consisting of a coupling member having arecess entering one end thereof and an enlarged chamber at the inner end of said recess, link bars contained in said recess and disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal center thereof, said bars having lateral projections projecting into'said chamber laterally beyond the walls of the recess, a spreader secured between the bars holding the latter apart, said bars protruding from the end of said coupling member and having recesses in opposite sides near their protruding ends, a link composed of bars arranged between the ends of such protruding ends and each having oppositely extending lateral projections contained in the recesses of both the first named bars, and having recesses containing the parts of the first named bars which lie outside of the recesses therein, and a binder surrounding the bars of said link to prevent disengagement thereof from the first named bars, the bars of the link also having recesses in opposite sides near their ends; and a succession of similarly constituted links simi larly engaged with the above described link and withone another.

12. A coupling member for the end of, a chain or shaft of the character described, having a recess or bore adapted to contain and confine a pair of spaced-apart link bars and having an enlarged chamber within such recess adapted to contain lateral projections on the ends of such bars.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

OLOF OHLSON.

. Witnesses:

ANnEnsAUNn, EUGENE L. FoLsoM.

inmates of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of latents,

a Washington, D, G. i 

